BCCI to stick to SG balls for domestic tourneys

Kolkata: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) technical committee on Monday decided to stick with the SG ball for domestic tournaments while also saying that they have considered the recommendations made at the BCCI conclave for the captains and coaches recently which would now be sent before the general body for final approval.

"We have considered and made recommendations. I would not like to get into the nitty-gritty. But it's suffice to say that the effort has been to as far as possible and practicable indigenise the game of cricket in India," BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary told reporters after the hour-long meeting held at a plush hotel here.

"With time we have been going forward with using our own cricket products and as far as possible we will continue to do that. But there will be certain exceptions in certain tournaments until the time we are able to persuade and convince the ICC to accept our own manufactured balls, even for international games to be played in India which is not the case in shorter format," he added.

At the BCCI conclave held in March, most teams were happy with the use of the SG Test balls in the Ranji Trophy but a majority of them expressed reservations on the use of SG Glace for white-ball tournaments.

The BCCI had introduced the Kookaburra Turf balls in domestic limited-overs tournament two years back with the aim of helping the domestic players get accustomed to the ball that was being used at the highest level, including the Indian Premier League (IPL).

But earlier this year, the board reverted back to using white SG balls for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament -- a decision that did not go down well with some of the teams.

The BCCI had asked the captains and coaches of all the 28 First Class teams to submit their views on five key issues.

The five points were: home-and-away format for Ranji Trophy, four-group format tried out for the first time in Ranji, Vijay Hazare Trophy format, super league format in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the quality of balls used for the red-ball and white-ball tournaments.

Chaudhary said "most" of the recommendations were considered and would be put in front of the general body.

"Most of them were considered and certain recommendations have been codified and they will be put to the general body for consideration and acceptance," Chaudhary said.

A section of the captains and coaches pressed for converting the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts into an eight-team super league, similar to the 10-team super league for the Mushtaq Ali Trophy while also pushing for a three-group format for the Ranjis from the prevalent four in a bid to play more matches.

Domestic coaches also asked for a special pay package while captains asked for their reports filed at the end of each match, to be made available on the BCCI's website. The use of the Decision Review System (DRS) was also recommended at the conclave.

The acting secretary also added that the Day/Night format for the Duleep Trophy would continue with pink balls used for the tournament.

"Duleep trophy with pink ball will continue in all probability."

The meeting was chaired by former India captain Sourav Ganguly and besides Chaudhary had GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim and chief national selector M.S.K. Prasad.